Andre Drummond's Historic Start

Let’s face it – Detroit Pistons C Andre Drummond is an absolute beast on the court this year.

In a league that is dominated by guards & great wing players, Drummond is a throwback to the classic center (possible forward) of the past. So far, after 4 games, he is averaging 20 points & 19 rebounds per game, with 2 20/20 games already this season. Most importantly to DraftKings users, he is averaging an insane 50 points per game right now.

The crazy part of this – He has been able to be picked at less than $9,000 on most nights so far. My advice to everyone, get him as many times as you can before the pricing becomes accurate with his actual worth. Drummond could be a player who could easily break the $11,000 mark before Christmas at this rate.

One of the main reasons that Drummond is worth every penny that will be paid for him on DK is that he offensive game has truly come around. Drummond has never been one of the greatest shooters, even going back to his days at UConn, but now he has become a true finisher around the rim & his free throw percentages are getting higher & higher as he is currently 58% at the stripe this year. He is showing more overall aggressiveness than many of the top centers in the league including Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside & others.

Drummond is getting quality coaching from Pistons Coach Stan Van Gundy, who was responsible for making Dwight Howard into a dominant center when Howard was just starting in Orlando. The interesting thing is that Howard hasn’t been the same since he left Orlando, serviceable, but not close to the MVP caliber of player that he was under SVG’s coaching. Drummond is positioning himself into an MVP candidate & outside of Stephen Curry, the guy that under any circumstances, has to be played in either a tournament or cash game on most nights.

You may say that Drummond has hit his ceiling because of the huge numbers he has already put up, but the guy is constantly getting better offensively & is not losing his defensive aggressiveness, which is rare with most big men in the league. He is on the upside right now more than any center in the league & he has a floor right now of about 40-45 points each night, with truly an unlimited ceiling.

Why is there an unlimited ceiling? The Pistons are a team that is very tough to use a double-team on one player each night. The team has come out with a balanced lineup that has been good offensively to start the year, particularly in the front-court with Marcus Morris, rookie Stanley Johnson & Ersan Ilyasova. Having those bodies around that can be offensively strong helps Drummond see more man-to-man defense, where he will thrive most nights.

When you are putting your lineups together this season, don’t sleep on Andre Drummond, he will be a massive stats guy each night. You can thank me when you have your 60-70 point games throughout the season.

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Shaun Livingston • PG • GS

Shaun Livingston announces retirement from NBA

Livingston made the announcement on Instagram, putting an end to his 15-year career. He was waived this summer by the Warriors in order to clear space to add D'Angelo Russell to the roster. Livingston wasn't drawing much interest but there have been reports that coach Steve Kerr hopes he remains with the organization, potentially as an assistant coach. Livingston was with eight different organizations after being drafted fourth overall in the 2004 draft by the Clippers, but most notably was with the Warriors for the past five seasons, where he won all three of his career championships.

Several teams were reportedly interested, but Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Johnson ultimately landed with the Pistons. He shined in the Big 3 League and ended up walking away with an MVP trophy playing in the 3-on-3 format. While he'll contribute some scoring from Detroit's backcourt, he likely will take on a bench role and would be a pure matchup play on a night-to-night basis. Last season with the Rockets, Johnson averaged 22 minutes per game with 6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.